Mitigation of seismic and vibration responses for structure-equipment coupled system using 3D isolation friction pendulum bearing

Abstract

Large-scale dynamic equipment is often installed in multi-storey industrial buildings and its vibrations may potentially lead to malfunction of precise equipment or even structural damages. 3D isolation friction pendulum bearing (3D-FPB) is proposed in this study, aiming to mitigate seismic and vibration for structure-equipment coupled systems. According to the geometric characteristics of the 3D-FPB, horizontal and vertical mechanical analyses were developed. Subsequently, shaking table experiments and vibration excitation experiments were conducted on a reduced scale structure in reference to an actual coal crusher room. The experimental results showed that the 3D-FPB can effectively mitigate the acceleration responses of both structure and equipment and reduce the interlayer displacement of the structure. The 3D-FPB exhibited excellent hysteretic behavior and self-centering capability, with relatively small residual displacements. Under an operational frequency of the equipment, the mitigated peak acceleration of the structure was reduced by more than 69 %, and the acceleration vibration level was reduced by over 12 %, in comparison to the unmitigated structure.